(BEIJING) - Beijing has revoked the export licences of 700 toy factories over safety failings, state media reported Wednesday, after a series of high-profile scandals hit the image of Chinese goods overseas.

Beijing launched a massive campaign to inspect all 3,540 toy firms with export permits last August after tens of millions of Chinese-made toys were recalled globally due to design or manufacturing flaws.

It barred 700 firms -- nearly one in five -- from exporting because they failed to meet safety standards, the China Daily quoted a senior safety official as saying.

"After the inspection, the overall situation regarding the production of toys for export has been greatly improved," said Li Changjiang, head of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine

Li made the comments after meeting Meglena Kuneva, the visiting EU commissioner for consumer policy.

Kuneva's visit was her third since July, when a spate of quality scandals surrounding Chinese exports ranging from seafood to toys added new tensions to trade relations with Europe and the United States.

China exported around 22 billion toys globally every year, a quarter of which went to Europe, the China Daily said.

The EU will continue to watch its imports closely, monitoring for shoddy products and toys, with high chemical content and dangerous small parts considered the major problems, the paper added.

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